On August 29, the United Arab Emirates carried out a series of airstrikes on forces loyal to the Saudi-backed government of Yemen. The strikes reportedly killed or wounded over 300 people. The UAE said that the targets were some “terrorist militias”. However, the Saudi-backed government claimed that the UAE targeted its troops in Aden and Zinjibar supporting forces of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council. This incident became the first time when the UAE provided STC units with a direct military support in their clashes with Saudi-backed forces.

An intense fighting between UAE- and Saudi-backed forces were ongoing across southern Yemen, especially in the city of Aden, almost entire August. In the first half of September, the intensity of clashes decreased. Nonetheless, the conflict within the Saudi-UAE-led coalition remains unresolved.

Essentially, the UAE and forces it backs are shifting focus from fighting against the Houthis, to fighting against the Saudi-backed government, further widening the rift. Taking into account that STC units are the most military capable part of coalition-backed troops, this undermines the already low chances of the coalition to achieve a military victory over the Houthis.

Interests and vision of the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East have been in conflict for a long time. Nonetheless, this tendency became especially obvious in 2019. The decline of influence of the House of Saud in the region and inside Saudi Arabia itself led to logical attempts of other regional players to gain a leading position in the Arabian Peninsula. The main challenger is the UAE and the House of Maktoum.

Contradictions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE turned into an open military confrontation between their proxies in Yemen. Since August 29, Saudi Arabia has provided no symmetric answer to the UAE military action against its proxies. It seems that the Saudi leadership has no will or distinct political vision of how it should react in this situation. Additionally, the Saudi military is bogged in a bloody conflict in Yemen and struggles to defend its own borders from Houthi attacks.

The UAE already gained an upper hand in the standoff with Saudi Arabia in the economic field. This motivates it for further actions to expand its influence in the region.

Yemeni drones have hit two oil facilities of Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant Aramco in the country’s east, causing huge fires before dawn on Saturday.

A spokesman for Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry said in a statement that the attacks targeted two Aramco factories in Abqaiq and Khurais.

The statement did not identify the source of the attacks, but Yemen’s Houthi movement later claimed responsibility in an announcement on Al Masirah TV.

The movement’s military spokesman General Yahya Sare’e said 10 drones were deployed against the sites in Abqaiq and Khurais, and pledged to widen the range of attacks on Saudi Arabia.

“This was one of the largest operations which our forces have carried out deep inside Saudi Arabia. It came after careful intelligence and cooperation with honorable and free people inside Saudi Arabia,” he said without elaboration.

Home to much of Saudi Arabia’s oil production, Eastern Province has seen bouts of unrest since 2011 when protesters emboldened by the Arab Spring uprisings took to the streets.

Houthi fighters and their allies in Yemen’s army have carried out similar attacks in recent months in retaliation for the kingdom’s airstrikes in the impoverished nation and its crippling economic siege on the country.

The incident comes nearly a month after Saudi Aramco’s oil facilities in Shaybah, the kingdom’s largest strategic oil reserve near the UAE border, were targeted by Yemeni forces in a major drone attack.

Yemeni forces also launched a successful raid on a major pipeline spanning the kingdom in May.

Sare’e on Saturday pledged to widen the range of retaliatory attacks on Saudi Arabia.

“As long as the invasion and siege continues, we promise the Saudi establishment that our future operations will expand further and become more painful,” he said.

“There is no solution before the Saudi establishment other than halting attacks and putting an end to the siege,” Sare’e added.

The latest attacks also come as Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude exporter, accelerates preparations for a much-anticipated initial public offering of Aramco.

The IPO forms the cornerstone of a program envisaged by de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a son of King Salman, to replenish the kingdom once buoyant reserves which have dwindled in stride with falling oil prices and the protracted Yemen war.

The war has turned into a quagmire for Riyadh, with Yemeni forces increasingly using sophisticated weaponry in retaliatory attacks.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia’s most notable partner in the conflict, recently announced the gradual withdrawal of its troops from Yemen, largely because it believes the war has become “unwinnable”, according to US reports.

Yemeni forces regularly target positions inside Saudi Arabia in retaliation for the Saudi war, which began in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall the country’s Riyadh-allied former regime and crush the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement.

The Western-backed military aggression, coupled with a naval blockade, has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis, destroyed the country’s infrastructure and led to a massive humanitarian crisis.

In its statement, Yemen’s Armed forces claimed responsibility for the drone operation on two oil facilities of Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant Aramco in the country’s east, which caused huge fires before dawn on Saturday.

The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said in a statement on Saturday, “The Air Force carried out an operation – dubbed ‘Operation Balance of Deterrence 2’ – of a 10-drone squadron on two Saudi Aramco plants in Abqaiq and Khurais”.

General Saree said that the operation was accurate and direct, pointing out that “the targeting of Abqaiq and Khurais plants comes within the framework of the legitimate and natural response to the crimes of the Saudi aggression”.

The Yemeni Armed forces spokesman promised the regime in Saudi Arabia, “that our future operations will expand and be more painful as long as its aggression and blockade continue”.

Relatedly, Yemen’s Minister of Tourism Ahmed al-Ali in an interview with the Lebanon-based Arabic language al-Mayadeen TV assured that no civilians were harmed saying, “we have not targeted any civilian targets in Saudi Arabia; strategic facilities were targeted”.

The incident comes nearly a month after Saudi Aramco’s oil facilities in Shaybah, the kingdom’s largest strategic oil reserve near the UAE border, were targeted by Yemeni forces in a major drone operation.

Drone Attacks Spark Fire at 2 Saudi Aramco Oil Plants

Drones have hit two oil facilities of Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant Aramco in the country’s east, causing huge fires before dawn on Saturday.

A spokesman for Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry said in a statement that the attacks targeted two Aramco factories in Abqaiq and Khurais.

The statement did not identify the source of the attack, but Ansarullah revolutionaries and their allies in Yemen’s army have carried out similar attacks in recent months in retaliation for the kingdom’s airstrikes in the impoverished nation.

Meanwhile, the spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree announced that Yemeni forces will be issuing a statement in the coming hours about details of the largest Yemeni Air Forces operation into the depth of Saudi Arabia.

The incident comes nearly a month after Saudi Aramco’s oil facilities in Shaybah, the kingdom’s largest strategic oil reserve near the UAE border, were targeted by Yemeni forces in a major drone attack.

Yemeni forces also launched a successful raid on a major pipeline spanning the kingdom in May.

The Saudi-led war has so far turned into a quagmire for Riyadh, with Yemeni forces increasingly using sophisticated weaponry in retaliatory operations. The UAE, Saudi Arabia’s most notable partner in the conflict, has consequently announced the gradual withdrawal of its troops from country, largely because it believes the war has become “unwinnable”, according to US reports.

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah delivered a speech Tuesday in front of crowds participating in the procession of Ashura (Tenth Day of Muharram) in the Southern Suburb of Beirut.

After offering condolences to mourners for the martyrdom of the grandson of the prophet, he expressed gratitude for the large participation through the last 10 nights of Ashura and saluted the Lebanese Army, General Security and contributes for the successful security measures throughout these nights.

His eminence noted that “Imam Hussein will be looking at your faithfulness and response to his call with pride, as he sees that his message from Ashura has been received and all our deeds emerge from the school of Ashura”.

Thus, Sayyed Nasrallah assured that “Ashura is the day of reformation in the nation of Prophet Mohammad, Imam Hussein sacrificed his life for the sake of this nation”.

In this context, he pointed out that a country in this nation being occupied is not a passing issue, hence Palestine is our central cause.

Palestine

Hezbollah SG said: “Starting with our central cause, Palestine, we reassure its people that liberation can only be achieved through resistance and stress our continuous commitment to the Palestinian cause. It is the basic pillar in the face of the American-Israeli plot, and the Palestinian people will protect their cause and sanctities. We are with the Palestinian people and their resistance in the West Bank and Gaza. We stand with their prisoners and all their resistance fighters in one team and one battle. Additionally, we reassure our recognition to the rights of the Palestinian refugees to live and work with dignity in Lebanon until they can return to their land.”

He further denounced the Israelis’, specifically Netanyahu’s, actions against the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque dubbing Zionist PM Benjamin Netanyahu as malicious.

Yemen

Moving on to Yemen, Sayyed Nasrallah said: “Yemen today is another Ashura… and its people are still standing strong in the face of the outrageous war in which crimes against humanity are taking place yet the whole world is watching silently”.

He added: “A US-British alignment is killing women and children in Yemen only for the sake of selling weapons and armory… and Saudi Arabia’s ongoing assault will only bring it eternal defeat, humiliation and shame in this life and torture in the afterlife. All the goals and slogans they put to justify their war have fallen. It is time for the Yemeni people to be aware of the Saudi/Emeriti goals and unite in their face. Today, we renew our call to stop war on Yemen and its people”.

Bahrain

On another level, his eminence said: “Another year passes and the Bahraini people are still suffering as the Bahrain regime is going far with its normalization with the Zionist enemy and its support for the Zionist Assaults on Palestine, Lebanon and Syria”.

“We tell the Bahraini people that with your peaceful revolution and your firm screams you are performing the big Jihad for the sake of Allah, and this will definitely fruit because this is the promise of Allah. Today, we stand by your side and reassure our faith in your right, truthfulness and firmness”.

US Sanctions

Concerning the US sanctions on Iran, Syria and resistance movements in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq, his eminence considered that “this is an aggression that the US administration is waging to make economic and financial pressure after all its wars against the resistance movements in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq have failed. This aggression has expanded to also target banks and businesses in Lebanon that are not related to Hezbollah in anyway, and this must be approached and dealt with in a different way”.

“The Lebanese government must defend and protect the Lebanese people and not rush to implement the US resolutions and desires. This file must be opened because the Lebanese economy is being targeted through that,” he added.

Lebanon

On the security level, Sayyed Nasrallah assured that “the Lebanese have toppled Israel’s latest attempt to change the rules of engagement. There are thousands of Israeli violations but after all there are red lines.

The latest violation in the Southern Suburb of Beirut, sending explosive-laden drones for assassination is a significant aggression on us. The resistance’s response came through the borders and by later destroying the Israeli drone yesterday in the sky of the southern village of Ramiyah”.

“Despite all the intimidation, we insist on enhancing our deterrent force which protects our country,” he added.

Israel, Hollywood Army

Sayyed Nasrallah said that “the Israeli Army has turned into a Hollywood Army, and its use of puppets to fool Hezbollah reveals its weakness”.

“You are a Hollywood Army and we learned a lesson from the show you performed. It is that in our future responses, instead of hitting one vehicle we will hit more, an instead of hitting one target we will hit more, and let’s see how many shows you can perform,” Hezbollah SG addressed the Israelis saying.

His eminence reassured Hezbollah’s respect to 1701 resolution which the Israeli is not sticking to and affirmed its right to respond to any attack against Lebanon, considering that there will be no red lines from now on.

“Lebanon has imposed itself on the whole world. Everyone called the Lebanese government after the latest Israeli violation trying to stop us from responding to the attack. Lebanon must know that it is strong with its army, people and resistance equation,” he added.

Lebanon, Economic File

On the economic situation, Sayyed Nasrallah indicated that “there could be a solution for the deteriorating economic situation in Lebanon, and the government must hold its responsibility of controlling corruption and financial waste…”

He further assured that “we refuse to fix the situation by raising taxes on the poor. Instead, the government must regain its stolen money from the rich who have stolen.”

“I call on the officials to make efforts to regain the trust of people, or else they would feel that every tax paid is not helping in solving the economic situation, so why pay it? Instead, if people had trust in their government, they would admire it and be part of reformation, this is the natural equation, just like people were ready to sacrifice for the sake of Hezbollah because they had faith in its leadership,” his eminence added.

Iran

“We reassure our rejection to any war on Iran because this war will destroy the region. It will be a war on the entire resistance axis and its goal would be to destroy any hope of regaining Palestine. Thus, on this day, as part of the resistance axis, we state that we will not take a neutral stance in the battle of right against wrong and in the battle of Hussein against Yazid. This supposed war will be an end to Israel and to the US domination in the region,” Sayyed Nasrallah stated.

“Our Imam and leader and the “Hussein” of this era is Imam Ali Khamenei. He is the leader of the axis of resistance and Iran is its center and basic pillar,” he added, vowing: “O leader and Imam, if we were to be killed and burned 1000 times, we will never leave you o son of Hussein… Do we stay after you? May Allah never show us that! In the axis of resistance, we have only seen victories, hope for the oppressed, dignity, and preservation of sanctities,” he stressed.